MY BIKE DOWNS IN MARCH & APRIL 2007
I'm sure there are many organic gardeners who share my enjoyment in travelling by pedal cycle.
Well, as the darkness of winter retreated it became time to take my bike for repair so I could enjoy the country air and get more exercise during the year as I had promised myself.
I collected my bicycle in the late afternoon and made sure I had new batteries for the lamp. I just couldn't resist taking the country road home but found the dark caught up with me very quickly. I was soon on a familiar country road but it was pitch black. The road camber was steep and my brakes extra sharp after the adjustment. The water company had just finishing using this road to lay new pipes and the left verge had many pools of water.
Well, inevitably a car came along in the opposite direction and I slowed. The combination of my sharp brakes and extra steep camber left me looking for a foothold and the next thing I knew was the sound of wallowing water and cold sodden trousers. Fortunately this was merely a large road side hole and not the roadside ditch. But by far the worst was an appauling stink - not quite what I had planned for getting the country air - the excriment of young bulls and cows from the neighbouring field.
Now that's what I call an adventure and I returned home quite pleased although I had some explaining to do. I would not have missed it for the world and that's a fact. The earth is in my blood - hey folks don't call it 'dirt' - soil is the life blood for your plants and ultimate your cereal, bread, toast...
Little did I know that I was soon to have a second bicyle adventure.
One splendid April morning I was off on my bicyle to the next village for a dental appointment. This was a suburban road and I was passing a school where parents park to pick up and drop off children although it wasn't that exact time of day. I enjoy precision riding and had been cutting quite close to parked cars. The road took a long left turn when suddenly a car drivers door opened right in front of me. I hit the door and somersaulted over the top landing on my back a yard or so further on.
I hardly remember wrapping my collar bone of the top of the door but recollect the eternity of being head first towards the ground before pitching over. I tucked in and landed on my back my head fell back hard onto the road and bounced once or twice as I slid along the road.
I hesitated to collect myself before getting up. It shook me up a bit but I was alright. A man nearby picked my bike up and wheeled it to the side of the road. I felt shaken but I had got off unscathed and I was soon up on my feet. I remember thinking that the lady driver looked disturbed but her first instinct was to grab for the mobile phone. The car door was badly damaged.
The morning sun had been shining straight into the drivers side windscreen and this prevented her from viewing the wing mirror. Plus of course the left bend put me in her blind spot, because we drive on the left in the UK.
| Cracked Helmet has done it's job I'm glad that wasn't my head |
don't drive too close to parked cars,
check and take extra care if a driver is present,
take care when passing cars around a left bend (U.K.),
keep your windscreen and mirrors crystal clean,
check over your shoulder before pulling out or opening a door into the traffic lane.
Cyclists should ALWAYS WEAR A BICYCLE HELMET
Even if you fall from a stationary bicycle there is considerable danger.
Your head is high off the ground, you don't fall vertically down in a heap, rather the bicycle falls sideways and with further to travel your head picks up more speed. It is harder to cushion a fall from a bicycle by using hands.
Always change your bicyle helmet after it has been damaged.
Always wear your bicyle helmet securely and in the correct position.
Earlier this year a friend of mine hit the curb with his head when something got caught in his bicycle wheel. The accident sounded quite serious for him but I believe he has recovered.
I can't help but admit that after this second event I felt fit, even more of an adventurer and a survivor. In fact I actually felt like starting a new career as an acrobat. I hope that I'm not too accident prone?
But although I continued my journey to the dentist and back home by bicycle I followed the best advice and got public transport to the hospital for a check over. I was fine and the driver recompensed me for my helmet. But I never told Mum a thing about it. Take care.
